Simple Saturday Prep: The Number Roll

 Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em. Keep those pencils movin', Rawhide!

Got your attention, podnah? Hope so.

Tell me true. You having some trouble hog-tieing those single, double, and triple digit numbers?  Is trying keep those critters corraled in the correct place value spot more than you can handle? No more cause to fret, my friend. Tomorrow's post will settle all your worries.

Join me tomorrow as we make the ever-so-simple, yet-oh-so-wonderful Simple Saturday Number Roll. All you need to bring with you is some tape, scissors, a pencil, a big paper clip, and the .pdf I'll have ready for you to download.

Until tomorrow, here's a challenge for you. Access this link to the Rawhide song by clicking HERE.

Listen to it a couple of times and try to get the dad-burned thing out of your head the rest of the day.

It can't be done.

Simple Saturday: A Mouthful of Lightning

 Talk about packing a peppermint punch! Get ready to see this everyday, common treat put some sparkle in your life...err... mouth!

All right now, pal, I have to tell you that this amazing phenomenon happens pretty darned fast. You'll have to keep those peepers open wide or you'll miss the whole light show.

Here's how it goes. Unwrap the peppermint before entering the darkened room. With your mirror nearby, either on the wall or in your hand, go ahead and close the door. Now...wedge that candy on between your upper and lower back molars, spread your lips wide in the biggest open mouth grin you can muster, and bite down on the candy.

Oh! Did you see that?

That spark?

You didn't? Well, not to worry. Just rinse out your mouth with warm water and do it again.

Remember, watch closely because it happens lightning fast!

 

Simple Saturday Prep: A Mouthful of Lightning

You heard me right. Tomorrow we're going to make lightning pop in our mouths.

Don't worry, Mama. No electricity is required. Just a mirror, a really-really-really dark room, a peppermint candy, and your mouth.

Okay...some of you might find the following suggestion a little on the gross side, but (now that I have your full attention) I found that a ripe and raw morning mouth works the best. It seems that the fullest sense of oral earthiness proves to be the perfect condition for Simple Saturday Mouth Lightning. 

If at all possible skip brushing your teeth tonight. Do what you have to. Beg, borrow, or bribe Mom into giving you one night off...just one? (You know how to play that whine just right to get what you want, don't you? I know.  It's a practiced skill. Use it to your advantage.)

See you tomorrow morning with your bad-breathed self. We'll have some fun then.

 

Simple Saturday: Colorful Water Bottle Fun

Check out these vivid primary colors. Are they terrific?

You have scrounged up the three water bottles, water, and food coloring, right? Lucky for me, I've got plenty of bright Texas-football-weather like sunshine to play with. How about you? What's your tempie like?

Okay...go ahead and drop 6 or so fat drops of color into the water. If you're careful, you can watch the color slowly ribbon down through the water. After a while, go ahead and mix the water and color up by shaking the bottle a few times.

Now here comes the easy part. We're going to blend primary colors to create secondary colors by simply placing one bottle near one another and allowing sunlight to to do heavy lifting.

For example, the luscious green illuminating from the bottle to the right was created by placing the yellow bottle next to the blue one. Pretty cool, eh?

Don't believe me? Let's try it again with the yellow and red bottles. What becomes of this, you ask? Longhorn orange...that's what.

How can we make those Aggies happy? Easy...put the red bottle next to the blue one and gig 'em.

Simple Saturday Prep: Colorful Water Bottle Fun

 I'm hanging my head in shame. Tomorrow's post is going to rate as the simplest of Simple Saturday post of all time. I'm not kidding you.

And yet tomorrow's activity possesses a magical quality powerful enough to keep a youngster mesmerized for a long period of time. For real.

All that to say, gather up three water bottles, some food coloring, water, and, hopefully, a sunny day. That's all we need. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Actually, any clear bottles will do. I'm not picky.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed for a sunny day, shall we?

Until tomorrow...

Simple Saturday: Paper Doll Valentines

 I think this simply ribbon heart is stunning, don't you? Much like the Simple Saturday Paper Doll Valentines that we are about to create.

Before we begin, take a moment...one quiet moment. Think about the person that you're crafting this for. Think about all of the wonderful ways that this person lights up your life. Think about how they smile and laugh and how they make you smile and laugh. Or, think about someone in your life who could use a little more smiling and laughter in their life. Maybe you can lighten their life with with a simple hand crafted present. You can do that, can't you?

You have scissors and colors, don't you? As an option, you could scrounge up some tape, if you'd like. So, click HERE to download a .pdf folder paper guide and we're set to begin.

Trim the folded paper guide along the lines forming 3 long strips. Fold those strips in an accordian fashion. Cut along the red heart-shaped lines and you, my friend, have made Paper Doll Valentines. That is it! Fold. Cut. Color.

An nice variation is to tape your Valentine Paper Dolls together to form a long strip of hearts. How about maybe writing your special person's name  - one letter per heart. Nice, huh?

 Who are going to make one of these for? Tell me, won't you? Your Mom? Dad? A secret love?

Oh...I know who you're thinking of. Your Gramma...yeah...that's who (Hint. Hint.).

Gramma love. There's nothing like it.

Simple Saturday Prep: Paper Doll Valentines

 Tomorrow we're going to make the kind of valentines that Mommies and Daddies really love...homemade ones. All we need to make these treasures is some paper, scissors, and markers or crayons.

You'll simply download a pattern, fold, snip, and color away! Easy enough, right?

Now, if you just can't wait until tomorrow and are dying to see what Simple Saturday splendor is in store for you feel free to access the Teacher Guide that compliments Kelly Bennett's Your Mommy Was Just Like You. In it you'll find the directions to make tomorrow's project.

And, for an added bonus, you'll get an update on the amazing Chia Challenge carrot top project we did last week. Oh, my golly goodness! Wait until you see how that tenacious little chip has grown.

Give a few more weeks and Jack might be climbing it, after all.

Simple Saturday: The Chia Challenge

 I'm not quite ready to call Jack to begin scaling this fledging stalk. No, not yet. We've got a way to go still. Tell him the Simple Saturday Chia Challenge is moving along at a steady and promising pace. Tell him, "Soon, pal. Soon."

Just four days ago I set the stage for the competition by slicing the tops off of three small carrots. Oh, maybe I cheated a wee bit - or shall we say 'played the advantage' - because I chose a few carrots with leafy, feather-like remnants on top. (Not that it mattered at all in the ultimate growth process.) Then I placed my treasures on a saucer filled with water. Now, I didn't drown my little darlings. Instead the water level remains comfortably between the leafy upper nub and the sliced edge below.

Well, if you think a watched pot doesn't boil, try 24/7 carrot top surveillance. Gadzooks! S-l-o-w going, er...growing.

But then, finally, on Day 3, I saw it. My glorious, tenacious shoot bursting up through those dried leaf remnants. Hot diggity dog! It worked! My carrot top is still re-growing and at a semi-speedy rate!

I tell ya, it doesn't get much simpler or more fun than this, my friends. Wahoo! You know... its kinda sad that a large majority of our kids have never done this simplistic, miraculous activity. That's a shame...a crying shame.

Maybe next week we can sprout a few of Jack's magic beans. Wanna?

Simple Saturday Prep: The Chia Challenge

Have you ever owned a Chia? Dampened that strange terra-cotta shape? Smeared mustard-seed sized pellets into the shape's saturated grooves? Poured water into the hollowed-out space inside your Chia critter and waited...and waited...and waited for those lush green sprouts to...well...sprout?

I ask you, why spend your hard earned cash on a Chia Pet when you can have the same molasses-slow-waiting-to-grow experience on the cheap, Simple Saturday style?

Tomorrow, let's challenge the Chia with a few carrot tops, a saucer, and some water....want to?

Note: While the Simple Saturday Chia Challenge experience is cheapo, it still requires the same watching-paint-dry-patience required in owning  a Chia without that painful, biting pinch of the pocket book...if you know what I mean.

Simple Saturday: The Sorry Service Survival Game

If you recall from yesterday's post that we left desperate you with a borderline ballistic beginning reader trapped in a booth waiting for someone to bring your wiggly pint-sized pal something to eat! A dry crust of bread. Throw you a bone...something...anything. You've been waiting now for well over 15 minutes and your kiddo just can't take it no more! Now, there is nothing wrong with your little darling, nothing that a little entertainment intervention cannot remedy. And, believe it or not, you have a world of Sorry Service Survival resources right there, at your disposal. So pull out that piece of paper and pen with confidence, my friend. Let me show you how to save the day, one letter at a time.

What you're going to do is play a modified game of Hangman, utilizing the richness of the molasses-slow-serving restaurant environment as clues.  Your budding reader is hyper-sensitive to language, in particular combining letters together to form words. So, while they're wasting time in the Big Boy kitchen, plucking the chicken or whatever is going on in there, let's have some word-building fun, shall we?

 Look around you. There are scads of words to chose from, ripe for the picking. Why, there's the Exit sign or that package of Ketchup. Don't forget that packet of Sugar and its skinny substitute, Equal. 

You're going to explain that the words you're chosing to play a simple game of Hangman can be found somewhere in plain sight - a sort of early-reader on-site word search, if you will.

For instance, take the word 'Donuts' in the logo posted to the left. Depending on your child's reading aptitude, we can play with this word in one of three ways. One being that you've pre-plugged in the vowels in the word for them. Another is listing the vowels for them, leaving it up to them to chose the correct one. Or we can go cold turkey - no clues - straight up do or die, Dude.

And, then, the best is yet to come. Once they have solved a puzzle, turn the tables on them. Let them find secret words from the plethora surrounding you. Have them count out the letters, draw the dashes, and craft the dreaded hanging tree. THEY LOVE THIS!!!!!

I'm telling ya, those fries, once they finally arrive, will grow stone cold. Your kiddo won't want to stop playing the Sorry Service Survival Game....I guarantee it. 

Simple Saturday Prep: The Sorry Service Survival Game

 Parents of blossoming early readers, you know this scene, don't you? You've been there before - time and time again - haven't you?

You and your wiggly 5 or 6 year-old are stationed in a restaurant booth, perched on glossy vinyl padded bench seats. Your kiddo is hungry. You're antsy. What is keeping them so long? All you ordered was a healthy cobb salad for yourself (though the chicken enchiladas were looking mighty good) and a grilled cheese with a side of fries for your pint-sided companion. What are they doing? Organically growing the lettuce? Milking the cow to make the cheese? Sheesh!

What's worse is your darling child is beginning to lose it. You're reading the agitated dangling over the side of their seat, rude comments about strange looking patrons, and deep picking of the nose as danger signs. You need to entertain this young-un somehow and FAST!

Fear not! Simple Saturday to the rescue!

The supplies needed to play tomorrow's Sorry Service Survival Game are your average, every day piece of paper (a napkin will do, in a desperate pinch), a pen, and a lively restaurant surrounding.

Me? I never leave home without a small notepad in my purse. You never know where Sorry Service may lurk.

Simple Saturday: Bang-up Boomerang

 Y'all, this Simple Saturday post is proof that it takes very little in the way of cost and supplies to have hours and hours of fun, fun, FUN!

Did you gather up the scissors, cardstock, and the optional markers? Well, why not? Simple Saturday Bang-up Boomerangs are the absolute bomb, I'm telling ya. Go get the goods.

Here's how you make them. First of all access a .pdf printout I made for you by clicking HERE. Print it on the sheet of cardstock. Decorate the boomerangs and triangles printed on the sheet with your markers, if you'd like. Me? I couldn't wait to play. I cut mine out the second after I printed them. Blank boomers are just fine with me.

 For the launching technique, balance the boomerang on your fingertips. Now, give one tip of the boomerang a quick flick with your other hand. Wow! Did you see that? So cool.... So cool...

Okay, now for the mini-boomer, cut out the teeny-tiny triangle. Set it on a fingertip. Give one corner a quick flick. Shazam!!!!! Did you see that?

 You've got several boomerang cutouts to play with on your sheet. Color them. Cut them out and flick, flick, flick to your heart's content.

And, hey...thanks for stopping by to make boomerangs with me. It's so great to share all my simple and silly stuff with you each and every Saturday. Let's meet up again next week. What do you say?

 

Simple Saturday Prep: A Bang-up Boomerang

What does this fascinating Australian Aboriginal man and we, dear Simple Saturday friends, have in common?

Hunting?

Kangaroo love?

A didgeridoo?

No...we share a passion for the boomerang, that's what.

Bring scissors, some cardstock, and some markers with you tomorrow and I'll show you not just one way to make a boomerang...but TWO!

And, if you run across a recipe for Kick-a-poo Stew would you let me know? According a song I once heard, it seems to be the perfect boomerang-crafting snack food. Yum...I think.

All for now. G'day, mate.

 

Simple Saturday: A Soapy Cruiser

 Don't let yesterday's pic of  Toot Toot Cruiser fool ya. This week's Simple Saturday Soapy Cruiser moves, baby. It m-o-v-e-s.

Along with the bowl of water, scissors, and the liquid detergent, I went ahead and made a .pdf download of Soapy Cruiser Boats for you. Go ahead and click HERE for your super soapy Simple Saturday surprise.

Cut out a boat, being careful to cut the triangle part just right. Fill the bowl half full with water. Lay the boat cutout on top of the water. Drop a teeny, tiny speck of detergent inside of the triangle and WHOA! Did you see that? As quick as lightening, our Simple Saturday Soapy Cruiser became a super-sonic-soaperific rocket!

 There now. You have several cutouts on the .pfd download. Repeat the procedure over and over again.

Special Note: You will have to refresh the water each time to repeat the procedure. Just thought you'd like to know.

Have fun....Va-va-va-room!!!!!!! 

Simple Saturday Prep: A Soapy Cruiser

 Tomorrow's going to be another super easy one. Get ready.

If you gather up a piece of stiff paper, scissors, a large bowl of water, and some liquid detergent I'll show you how to make a boat that propels on its own accord! For real.

Leave the life vest behind...no need for it. Floaties? Nose clips? Life raft? Nope.

  Join me tomorrow for some incredible Simple Saturday ship shaping fun.

All  hands on deck!

See you tomorrow, mates!

 

Simple Saturday: See Through a Hole in Your Hand

Take a piece of notebook paper. Roll it up. Tape it together, and, buddy, you've created something lethal!

Not really.

What you have created is something that will play a cool trick on your eyes, Have you ever heard of something called an optical illusion? Well, bubba, if not, you're just about to experience an awesome one.

Here's how you do it. Take the tube in your right hand. Hold it to your right eye so that you can see clear through it. Raise your left hand, palm facing you, until it is in front of your left eye with your little finger touching the side of the tube. Open both eyes and look straight ahead. Yeow!!!!!! What's happened????

I know, that explanation was a little wordy. This week, in efforts to make things a little easier, I made a YouTube demonstration video just for you. Go ahead and click HERE to access it. Like the background music?

Speaking of background, ignore my messy office. That cluttery pile of books stacked behind me is just another optical illusion.

Simple Saturday Prep: Seeing Through a Hole in Your Hand

Okay, y'all. For a over a year now we've shared some pretty amazing Simple Saturday moments together haven't we? You know what I'm saying is true. Monster bubbles...balloon races...liquid sandwiches...paper moustaches...painted bread... The list goes on and on and on, doesn't it? Well, buddy, tomorrow's activity is truly the most amazing and simplistic of them ALL! No lie.

  Saturday I will show you an absolutely painless way to see through a hole in your hand. That's right...peek, peer, snoop, spot, spy though a hole in your hand!

Bring one piece of paper and some tape and be prepared to be astounded, Simple Saturday style.

Simple Saturday: Balloon Racing

Bring in the New Year with one of the most simple yet fun-filled Simple Saturday posts yet. Who needs some expensive, high-tech thing-a-ma-jig to provide hours of belly-laughing entertainment? Set those tangled cords aside for a while, gather up some string, tape , balloons, scissors, and a couple of straws and let the good times roll!

All right....find a place in the house where you can secure two pieces of string parallel, creating a cool suspended String Racetrack. As you can see in the picture, I secured my String Racetrack to the handles of my garage refrigerator. The other end was taped to some stacked boxes.

Slide the straw on the string before securing both ends of the String Racetrack. And, gentlemen, start your engines. We are about to let 'er rip!

Inflate your balloons. Hold that little balloon belly button tightly. Don't let any air escape. At midpoint, tape the balloon to the straw. Both challengers must hold their balloons behind an agreed upon starting line. After announcing, "On your mark! Get set! Go!", release the belly button and let your balloon rocket as far as it can down the String Racetrack.

Woo hoo!!!

And, if you can't beat your Balloon Racing buddy on the String Racetrack, go ahead and give him a few jabs with a Balloon Saber.  

Take that! And that!

Simple Saturday Prep: Balloon Racing

 Hurrah! Tomorrow is the first day of a brand new year!!!!! I love to celebrate the bright new beginning of a new year, filled with promise and possibilities, don't you?

Honestly, although 2010 was a bit of a challenge for me, so many great things happened. I made throngs of new friends and most of my 2010 days were filled with love and laughs. But I am geared up and ready to begin the New Year, aren't you? I just know that 2011 is going to be incredible...so great that I want to race right to it!

Tomorrow let's do just that. Let's have some New Years Day fun and balloon race to the first day of the new year. Want to? For racing gear you'll need some string, some balloons, tape, straws, and your own own bag of hot air. Super! Let's do it.

Ready to join me?

On your mark!

Get set!

Go!!!!!

 

Simple Saturday: A Tasty Holiday Analogy

Let's try to solve that analogy again, shall we? There's a treat waiting for you once you do.

Check it out. Little Boy Blue sprung to life at the word treat. What a slacker.

Oh well, remember yesterday's analogy?

Santa Claus is to Little Boy Blue

as

Christmas is to COOKIES, in particular...Haystacks!

That's right. We're going to make the world's simplest Christmas cookie ever - Butterscotch Haystacks. All you need is a bag of butterscotch chips, a bag of Chinese noodles (yum), waxed paper, a microwavable bowl, a spoon, and some will power. Got the goods? Then let's get after it.

Pour the butterscotch chips in the bowl. Microwave those gems for about 2 minutes. Stir the melted goodness a bit. Return to the microwave oven for another minute or so. When the butterscotch chips have transformed into a delicious frosting-like swirl, you're ready to pour the Chinese noodles in and stir, baby, stir. While you're at it, go ahead and nibble on a few of those butterscotch covered crispy delights. Dang...good, huh?

 Then all you do is spoon rows of tiny haystacks onot the waxed  and let them cool. When they've formed into nice piles of crunchy splendor Little Boy Blue's haystacks are ready to eat!

And that's all there is to it, my friend. Four easy Simple Saturday steps to holiday cookie heaven:

Melt.

Stir.

Stack.

Enjoy!

Your new audience awaits.